Out of Our Hair
by Writerinred
Summary: Kindra is just a simple enchantress She is just looking for a quiet, peaceful life. Is that too much to ask for? She doesn't think so. Fate laughs at this, and sends her Sambria, a baby with annoyingly perfect blond hair. Kindra struggles to adapt to her new life. When she finally settles into parenthood, Sambria is ready to leave the nest, but where will she fly?
1. The Lake

Out of Our Hair

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Ludria, a sad peasant family lived at the edge of a small kingdom. They had a beautiful view of a castle over Lake Sambria. The castle had many turrets and towers, all made of the same gray-white stone the men in their village worked each day to mine.

Despite the beautiful scenery, the family disliked looking in that direction. Lake Sambria was extremely reflective, and on quiet, windless days, the waters perfectly imitated the serenity of the clouds above. The peasant family hated reflections of any kind, because it reminded them that they had reflections themselves. This family, by way of some ancient curse or bad luck, had a hard time growing hair on their head. The men in the family were always bald by age seventeen, and the women's hair was so fine, one could see right through it to their scalp. Even those who married into the family quickly lost the full, shinning locks they had previously prized.

This was not something Cassandra had been warned about, and she now resented just about everything, especially her husband, for her hair loss. She wailed, morning and night, until some people had become so accustomed to the noise, they barely even heard it anymore.

However, the King's enchantress was not one of those people. She marched her pointy shoes all the way to Cassandra's front door and blew it open with a small gesture of her hand. She quickly found the crying woman in the small, one-room cottage and walked over to her. She reached for Cassandra's shoulder's and gave her a good shake. This quieted Cassandra.

The enchantress decided to try to be polite; this woman was obviously under a lot of grief about something. She pasted a smile on her face and said "Hello sweet, why do you cry so?"

Cassandra looked at her with a quivering lip. "I-I, I haven't got any hair left." She hid her face in her hands.

The enchantress raised her eyebrows in disbelief. But now that she looked, she noticed that the woman's head was practically bare. Maybe if she was nice, the woman would gain some self confidence and stop crying.

"What do you mean? You have at least a hundred hairs left. And very nice one's at that. I've always thought that clear was the prettiest color for hair."

"Not on babies," Cassandra said in a muffled voice.

"What?"

Cassandra lifted her head. "I said not on babies. I am going to have a child, and that child will be subjected to the same misery I endure each and every day." She looked off into the distance. "I used to have beautiful hair. It was soft and lush and long… so long it could reach half way down my back. In fact, it was about the same length as yours." Cassandra paused and squinted her eyes in distrust. "Who are you and why are you in my house?"

"I am the King's enchantress, and a rather good one at that. You may call me Kindra. I heard your cries, and thought I might be of service."

"Oh, of course. So what will you do? Give me my hair back?"

Enchantress Kindra was annoyed by the crying woman's impression that she had a right to Kindra's magic. This was only a peasant girl, and spell's didn't grow on tree's after all. "I'm sorry, deary, but magic doesn't work that way. I can't change something that has already happened."

Kindra instantly regretted her words as the woman began to wail again, and in the most untidy manner. Her mouth hung open and her hands move this way and that, making her look quite wild. "I can however, help your baby." Kindra said quickly and loudly, in order for the woman to hear her over her own cries.

"Y-y-you can?"

"Yes, I can insure that your baby will have beautiful locks that will shine like gold. They will never grow thin or discolored. Nothing will ever be able to destroy their beauty." Kindra lifted her hands in preparation to make the spell official. "As payment, you must promise me to never cry or wail or scream or make any other noise I would be able to hear all the way in the castle, ever again."

"I promise," Cassandra said, wiping her tears on her dirty sleeve.

Kindra waved her hands in the air a few times, then poked the woman's round stomach twice. "That should do it."

Kindra enjoyed her peace for a good half year. She had a very pleasant time, occasionally cooking up a spell for the King or his relatives, but mostly spending the time as she wished, bird watching and sketching forest creatures.

However, soon her quiet life would be disrupted. She had no way of knowing when she poured her tea that this would be the day to change her life forever. Kindra had just settled in her favorite chair to read a novel when there was a knock on her door.

She sighed. "Come in," she said begrudgingly

A timid guard stepped in. He knew she did not like to be disturbed, especially in the mornings.

"There is a woman here to see you, ma'am. She says you must see her and fix it."

"Fix what?" Kindra was starting to be very annoyed. No one was allowed to come to her with their problems, unless they were the royal family. It was probably the Queen's aunt again about a beauty spell.

"She wants you to reverse the spell you put on her child. She said you ruined her life."

"Child? What child?" Kindra murmured to herself.

"She won't leave until you see her. She's already been here for two hours."

"Show her in." The enchantress would quickly get rid of whatever confused woman was here.

In through the door came a fierce looking woman with a scarf around her head and a bundle in her arms.

"You have to take it back," the woman demanded.

Kindra raised one eyebrow "Take what back?"

"The spell you did on my baby. Look at her!" And with that, the woman pulled back the cloth around her baby's head. The child had long, thick, blond locks, especially for its young age.

The moment of realization had arrived. "You are the hairless—uh—crying girl from the village. And it looks like the spell worked wonderfully. You are mistaken."

"Oh it did? How do you figure? You were supposed to take away my misery, but instead you have increased it." Cassandra started to whimper. "Imagine being completely bald, and having to see your daughter's beautiful, perfect hair everyday. It's not fair."

Kindra raised her eyebrow. What kind of mother was this?

"And I can't even cry, because of your spell."

"That was our agreement. I don't see how any of this is my fault. And I can't take back the spell. Maybe you should be more careful what you wish for."

"Maybe you should be careful what wishes you grant" Cassandra retorted. "I can't stand the sight of my own baby. That's your fault." Kindra just barely stopped herself from correcting the woman.

"I can't do anything for you. Please leave." Kindra swept her full skirts around and made for her chair. She wanted to get back to her book.

"There is something you can do, and you will do. You must take the child. Since you cast the spell she is your responsibility."

Without turning, Kindra responded "Careful what you wish for. Would you have me take your only baby?" Kindra, of course, was not seriously considering taking the child, but she wanted to scare the woman into being a good mother.

"Yes I would. Here." As Cassandra placed her baby on a nearby table, Kindra whirled around.

"What? You can't do that. If you do, you will never see your child again."

"That's the point. Goodbye" Cassandra said as she practically ran out of the door.

"Wait!" Kindra's thoughts whirled. Of all the questions she was thinking, she only managed to blurt out the most trival. "What is the child's name?"

Cassandra turned around with a slightly sour expression. "It's Sambria."

As Cassandra left as fast as her legs could carry her, Kindra went to the baby. After picking her up, she went to her chair and plopped down. What an unexpected turn of events. And what a horrid woman. The baby is better off now that she is out of her mother's hair—or rather lack of hair, Kindra thought. And why on earth would the woman name the child after a lake?

Kindra called a maid to take care of the child for the present. Kindra had a lot of thinking to do. Her book would have to wait.


	2. Parenthood

Chapter 2: Parenthood

Kindra put down her book the morning Sambria was brought to her, and didn't pick it back up for about ten years. It turns out raising a child as a single mother was no easy feat, even for an enchantress. She worried about Sambria every minute the girl was awake, and when Sambria slept, Kindra would kick off her pointy shoes, sink into her favorite chair, and immediately fall asleep.

When she had time to think about her life, Kindra would acknowledge that she wouldn't want it any other way. Sambria was her sunshine, and Kindra loved sunshine.

Sambria also gave Kindra something she had never been given before, unconditional love. In Sambria's eyes, Kindra could do no wrong, and it challenged Kindra to do the best she could, so to set a good example. It wasn't easy, but Kindra didn't usually shy away from the difficult just because you had to work hard for it.

As the years past, time seemed to run faster than it ever had before. It felt like only a blink of the eye from the moment Sambria was thrown at Kindra, to this moment where she was brushing her hair, now almost to the floor. Kindra did not realize how powerful her spell was at the time, but it came true. Sambria's hair was gorgeous, wavy, and blonde. It never broke or split. It never fell out. In fact, you couldn't even cut it. It was like little strands of indestructible gold. This, however, did not imply that it never got tangled or dirty, because it did, quite often. Kindra got very good at buns and braids, or anything really that would keep Sambria's hair out of the way, which was no easy feat.

In a little closet hidden on the side of Kindra's living room was a pile almost up to Kindra's hip of broken brushes, combs and ribbons. The mound continued to grow because Sambria's hair never broke, but often something else did. Kindra spent a lot of her free time cooking up detangling spells and buying new brushes.

Sambria spent her own free time, or the time she wasn't being tutored on a variety of subjects, by playing with the other children in the castle. They had all grown up with her long, luscious hair, and barely noticed that it was odd. In fact, Sambria was a favorite in the castle. She was witty, athletic, and friendly.

Sambria had a wonderful childhood, aside from the occasional jests about her hair or her being named after a lake. She grew into a graceful young woman of almost 17 before Kindra even realized it was happening. By this time, Sambria's hair trailed a foot or two behind her when she walked. She often had to put it into braids or buns, but she had to be careful, as her hair was heavy and she could only arrange it in certain ways.

Often times her friends thought she looked very silly, until one day someone didn't. His name was Peter, and he was the count's page boy. He was almost 19, but still mostly acted like he was 15. He started to think her hair was strangely beautiful, rather than strangely inconvenient. He wished he could reach out and touch it, hold the golden strands in his hand and watch the sun's light bounce off of them. He was surprised by his feelings, as Sambria had always been one of the guys before hand, but now he felt awkward around her.

Sambria, of course, did not know why, but she noticed that one of her better friends was avoided her, and she didn't like it. One afternoon Peter was sitting on the edge of a fountain in the gardens, polishing his knife when Sambria happened upon him. Her smile lit up and she walked towards him, calling his name. He looked up, panicked, nodded at her, and ran away as fast as he could.

Sambria also ran, but not after him. She was not sure why, but if she caught up to him, she did not think she would have been able to say anything to him. Instead Sambria flew to the tower she called home. She knew exactly where she would find Kindra, sitting in her chair, softly snoring.

"Mamma, why did he run away from me?" Sambria sobbed.

Kindra woke up with a start, and had to spend a few moments orienting herself before she realized what was going on.

"I'm not sure why anyone would run from you, sweet. What did you say?"

"Nothing. Well I said his name, and he looked at me like a had three heads"

Kindra almost laughed, but didn't. The reason was that there were two large buns on either side of Sambria's head that served to keep her hair out of her way for the day. However, one could not laugh at their child at such a time. This was something Kindra had learned in the recent years. In fact, she began to realize that there were a lot of things one could learn and a lot of things she probably never would.

"Who, darling? What happened?"

As Sambria explained, Kindra kept her eyes squinted and her mouth pursed. Children liked it when they could tell from your expression that you were listening. Finally, when Sambria mentioned that Peter was the boy, Kindra broke her listening face, because now it made sense. That Peter Quincy boy, the son of Knight Quincy, who was a nice man but a bit of a fibber. Really, who would believe that he killed two dragons, a pig, a bear, and saw a tree that produced all types of fruit imaginable, all in one journey? Or at least that was his latest fish tale.

But back to Sambria, that Peter boy has had a crush on her for nearly a month, even though probably neither of them realized it until recently. Peter was a nice kid, not too much like his father, but Kindra just didn't know if he was good enough for her Sambria. How could one tell with boys these days?

Kindra spent the next half hour calming down Sambria; telling her everything was okay, that it was all a misunderstanding, and such things. Next Sambria wanted to go talk to Peter, and she wanted Kindra to go with her, for moral support. Kindra was less than pleased. It had already been an exhausting afternoon, to be woken up in the middle of a perfectly good nap, and she had been planning on dozing right off as soon as Sambria had stopped crying.

"How about you wait a bit? I'm a little tired. Lady Bertram had me up late last night making youth spells and nose shrinking spells."

"For her daughter? Well it's not her fault she has a nose like a carrot."

"Exactly, and just because she is not traditionally beautiful like her sister doesn't mean she wont ever get married. She has a large enough dowry."

Sambria's eyes widened. Kindra loved this look, but she was slightly apprehensive, because she knew that invariably a difficult question would follow.

"Do I have a dowry?

Kindra did have some money saved up, but she was just hoping Sambria would never leave her. Maybe they could use the money to buy a small cottage away from all the annoying royals and their insecurities.

"Dear what about going and talking to Peter? If you don't hurry he will be eating his super and then you will never catch him."

"Good thinking." Sambria rushed off, still unaware of what she could possibly say to Peter.

It turned out that Sambria would have a lot of time to think of what she would say. Peter was not eating super, but he was gone. Gone with his father, helping them on their mission. Sambria had heard Peter talking about becoming a soldier, and he did train with the other lads, but she never actually believed he would be gone for any amount of time. It felt different to not have him around, and Sambria didn't like it.

Peter had left in a rush, finally taking up his father's offer to see the world and all the crazy things in it. The mission was mostly routine, but there was always the chance that they would get to fight an ogre or meet a centaur in the woods. Peter wanted to get away from the castle, from Sambria, and most of all, from his own cowardry and awkwardness. Talking to a girl should not be harder than fighting an ogre. But today, it was. So there Peter went, to find his ogre and take it down.


End file.
